STAR, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — Three people were killed on early Friday morning when a gunman opened fire at his co-workers in North Carolina, officials said. The gunmen died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on early Saturday.

The shooting happened just before 6:15 a.m. local time on Friday when a 50-year-old employee walked into a warehouse at a lumber business in the town of Star, which is located in Montgomery County. About 20 people were working at the warehouse at the time.

“Upon the entry into the warehouse, Montgomery County deputies located three deceased bodies. Another injured victim was located near the warehouse,” said Sheriff Dempsey Owens. The injured victim was later airlifted to a trauma center in a critical condition.

Deputies later learned that the suspect, who was identified as Ronald Dean Davis, had left the premises and was possibly en-route to his home which is north of Star in the unincorporated community of Ether. A response team quickly responded to his residence.

“Deputies knocked on the door but with no reply,” Owens said. “One of the team members observed, through the window, that Mr. Davis was sitting on the couch with his head hung down. The deputies made entry into the residence and found Mr. Davis with a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.”

When officers entered the residence, they also found a gun on the couch next to Davis. “Mr. Davis was still breathing and EMS (emergency medical services) transported him to Firsthealth Montgomery here in Troy. He was later flown out by air ambulance to a trauma center.”

On early Saturday morning, Davis died of his severe injuries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical Center, according to Owens. The injured victim is believed to remain in a critical condition from a single gunshot wound.

Few details about the possible motive behind the shooting were immediately released, but Owens said it was possible that Davis was being harassed at work. The victims appeared to have been the target as others were not attacked. Both the victims and Davis were employed at the lumber company.

“Upon further investigation in the residence, the deputies located a six-page, handwritten note that was located beside him,” Owens said, without releasing any of the contents. “It’s really lengthy, it goes into some details about some things. But it rambles on pretty much.”

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Hurricane Irene is estimated to have caused between $200 million and $400 million in insured losses in the Carolinas, catastrophe modeling company EQECAT reported on Sunday. More serious damage is expected in other areas along the U.S. East Coast.

The center of Irene made landfall on Saturday at about 7.30 a.m. local time near Cape Lookout on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina. It had maximum sustained winds near 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour, and higher gusts, making it a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity.

EQECAT, in a preliminary assessment, estimated that insured losses in North and South Carolina are expected to range from $200 million to $400 million. “Although Irene was a Category 1 hurricane at landfall, the sheer size of this storm has caused severe damage from storm surge and flooding,” the company said.

Hundreds of thousands of people lost power in North Carolina due to damaged distribution lines, primarily caused by fallen trees and debris. Irene also produced heavier than initially expected rain totals, and coastal areas experienced 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) in storm surge.

“The estimated insured loss from this event for South Carolina and North Carolina is expected to range from $200 [million] to $400 million USD, with the bulk of the losses in North Carolina,” EQECAT said in its preliminary assessment. “Strong winds and rain are expected to continue causing damage to Virginia and states further north.”

EQECAT warned that, even though the system weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday morning, Irene remains a very dangerous storm which has ‘significant’ potential to cause damage and injuries. The catastrophe modeling company expects damage in New York City and New England’s urban area to be more severe than in the Carolinas.

“The speed and size of Irene translates to extended durations of strong winds and debris; experience from Hurricane Ike (2008) reminds us that high-rise buildings pose significant vulnerability to damage from wind and debris, and the New England urban area has a large population of high-rise buildings that will be exposed to very strong winds,” the company said. “It is very likely that a landfall of Tropical Storm Irene in New York will result in larger damages and losses than those seen in North Carolina.”

It added: “The coincidence of a new moon (stronger tidal variation) during Irene will exacerbate flood and surge, and water heights may be 5 to 8 feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) higher than normal close to New York City.”

In addition to damage, Irene also resulted in the deaths of at least four people in North Carolina alone, including a 15-year-old girl. The total death toll along the U.S. East Coast as of Sunday morning was nine.

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MIAMI (BNO NEWS) — The center of Hurricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina on early Saturday morning, forecasters said. Three storm-related fatalities have so far been reported.

Irene made landfall at about 7.30 a.m. local time near Cape Lookout on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina with maximum sustained winds around 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour, and higher gusts. Despite its interaction with land, Irene maintained its strength as it moves towards the north-northeast.

As of 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), the center of Irene was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west-northwest of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. “Irene should continue to move north-northeastward between a mid-level ridge over the east-central Atlantic and a trough passing over the Great Lakes Region,” said Daniel Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Irene is forecast to gradually weaken as it moves along the East Coast of the United States due to land interaction, dry air entrainment, and increasing southwesterly shear,” Brown said. Irene is expected to approach New York on early Sunday morning, and Maine by SUnday evening.

“If the center of Irene moves more over land than forecast during the next 12 to 24 hours, it could be slightly weaker than predicted,” Brown said. “Whether Irene is a strong tropical storm or hurricane over New England will make little difference in the expected impacts of damaging winds, a dangerous storm surge, and flooding rains.”

As of Saturday afternoon, officials in North Carolina reported that three storm-related fatalities had been reported in the state. One person died on Friday evening of a heart attack as he was trying to board up his home. Two others were killed on Saturday, one in a road accident and another when a tree crushed him to death.

More than 160,000 power outages have been reported in North Carolina, and that number is expected to increase throughout Saturday as the storm moves through. “Today the threat is wind, rain and storm surge. Tomorrow and Monday we have potential for flooding along some of our inland rivers,” said North Carolina governor Bev Perdue.

In North Carolina, 81 shelters are open in 29 counties housing approximately 7,500 evacuees. Many others have evacuated and went to friends or family.

In Virginia, Norfolk Fire-Rescue swimmers rescued two people and a cat after their 30-foot (9-meter) sailing vessel ran aground off Ocean View Beach. There were no injuries.

In preparation for the storm, U.S. President Barack Obama previously signed emergency declarations for North Carolina, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maryland.

Irene is the ninth named storm and the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. It was followed by Tropical Depression Ten which remains active in the far eastern Atlantic, but poses no threat to land.

According to figures released earlier this month, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is expecting an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. The outlook calls for 14 to 19 named storms, with seven to ten becoming hurricanes and three to five expected to become a major hurricane (category 3 or higher).

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with peak activity in September.

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — Bank of America Corp. is cutting at least 3,500 jobs by the end of next month as part of a major restructuring effort which could see as many as 10,000 job cuts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The report, citing people familiar with the situation, said the 3,500 positions to be cut this quarter are spread across the bank, including investment banking and trading. It said some employees have already been notified.

But thousands more could be laid off at the Unites States’ largest bank by assets as part of an aggressive and major restructuring plan. Executives at the bank are still discussing the total number of job cuts, but one source told the newspaper that at least 10,000 jobs are likely to be eliminated.

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, is seeking to reduce the bank’s expenses by as much as $1.5 billion per quarter. “I know it is tough to have to manage through reductions,” Moynihan said in a memo to top managers on Thursday night, according to the Journal. “But we owe it to our customers and our shareholders to remain competitive, efficient and manage our expenses carefully.”

The Bank of America, which was founded in 1904 and has relationships with nearly all U.S. Fortune 500 companies, did not immediately comment on the report. The Wall Street Journal said a final decision about the number of job cuts is not expected until early next month.

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ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — The pilot of a stolen plane which crashed in North Carolina on Tuesday is still missing, as local authorities continue their search, officials said Tuesday night.

The Piper Aircraft fixed-wing single engine aircraft was stolen on late Monday night at Horace Williams Airport, which is located near Chapel Hill in North Carolina and is owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The aircraft crashed at around 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday within the property of the Alamance Wildlife Club, according to the Burlington Times News.

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case while a North Carolina State Highway Patrol helicopter landed near the crash site to assist. After analyzing a blood trail left at the site, local authorities believe the pilot of the aircraft was able to escape out of the front window, crawl onto the wing, and go into the woods.

The area was cordoned off and authorities used bloodhounds to try and locate the missing pilot, which has been identified although no name has been released. Officials believe the plane crashed because it ran out of fuel since there was no significant fuel spill at the site.

The North Carolina Civil Air Patrol was alerted to the crash by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which is located at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The search and rescue satellite detected the plane’s distress beacon, which automatically goes off when a certain amount of force is detected as in a plane accident.

The aircraft, which is registered to LFW Investments LLC, is owned by Larry Warren, who said that the plane was still at the airport between 8 and 9 p.m. local time on Monday. The aircraft is not likely to be removed from the woods until later this week.

FAA investigators have arrived at the scene to continue the investigation into the cause of the accident.

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — A disturbing case has shocked North Carolina where a mother has been arrested on allegations that she sexually abused her one-year-old daughter and then allowed a friend she met online to do the same, police said on Saturday.

35-year-old Darlene, whose last name is being withheld from this report to protect the identity of the victim, was arrested on Tuesday at her apartment in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina. It followed an investigation in February when she was investigated for child pornography.

According to a search warrant, Darlene is alleged to have sexually abused her daughter on multiple occasions since she was born last year. Last month, the document alleges, Darlene met 41-year-old Vincent McDougald on a website which is devoted to bondage, discipline and sadism.

“The chats .. were of a sexual nature and progressed to McDougald traveling to her residence to have sex with both she and her daughter,” the search warrant alleges. McDougald is reportedly from Laurinburg, a city in Scotland County, North Carolina.

Police believe that both Darlene and McDougald sexually abused the victim during their meeting and are now facing scores of charges which include rape. McDougald was also arrested, and the child is now with her grandfather.

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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — A North Carolina religious leader killed a 4-year-old boy because he showed he thought he was gay and another 28-year-old woman, prosecutors said Friday.

Peter Lucas Moses, 27, of Durham, North Carolina and leader of a religious cult group, shot and killed Jadon Higganbothan, 4, because he believed he was homosexual, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28, because she was unable to have children and was looking to exit the group, WRAL reported.

Moses’ group consisted of five women and nine children, according to an unnamed woman who spoke with police in February. Besides McKoy, Higganbothan, and the woman, the three other women included the 4-year-old’s mother Vania Rae Sisk, 25, Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40, and Larhonda Renee Smith, also 40. Moses fathered all of the children, with the exception of Higganbothan.

The women were considered Moses’ wives or “common-law wives,” Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline explained, adding that the women would periodically occupy the master suite with him.

According to prosecutors, Moses believed Higganbothan was gay because his father had abandoned Sisk, his mother. In addition, he had hit one of the other children’s bottom sometime in October 2010, triggering Moses’ to walk around angrily throughout the house with a gun in his hand.

Moses had previously told Sisk to “get rid of” Higganbothan, and during the incident, he ordered two of the women to set up loud speakers in the garage where the Lord’s Prayer was played in Hebrew at a high volume. After taking Higganbothan into the garage and shutting the door, a gun shot was heard.

The unnamed witness said the group of women then helped clean up Higganbothan body, who was shot in the head. The body was placed in a suit case, which was later removed from the house because it started to smell.

In late December 2010, McKoy escaped the home and asked to use the neighbor’s cell phone to call her mother in Washington, D.C., but Moses physically dragged her back to the home, as the other women stepped outside as well to witness the struggle. According to the witness, neighbors believed McKoy was mentally ill and living at a group home so they did not call the police.

During the rest of the day, Moses beat McKoy, and each of the women joined in at least once, trying to choke her to death with a telephone cord. As McKoy begged for her life, she was dragged into the bathroom where loud speakers again played the Lord’s Prayer in Hebrew. Moses took the same gun used to kill Higganbothan and fatally shot McKoy several times.

Both bodies were later found buried in the house’s backyard in June, and police found several .22-caliber shell casings, a projectile, and blood in the garage and master bedroom. The .22-caliber weapon was later found on the roof of a Colorado townhouse where the group had moved in February.

Moses faces first-degree murder charges, and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against him.

Sisk, Lavada Harris and Smith face first-degree murder charges in McKoy’s death and as accessories in Jadon’s death. Police said two of the women are pregnant.

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — Bank of America Corporation on Wednesday announced that it reached an $8.5 billion settlement agreement in relation to the sale of poor quality mortgage bonds.

The settlement will resolve nearly all of the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure, representing 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.

However, the settlement agreement with The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) and the trustee for the RMBS trusts is subject to final court approval and certain other conditions.

“This is another important step we are taking in the interest of our shareholders to minimize the impact of future economic uncertainty and put legacy issues behind us,” said Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. “We will continue to clean up the mortgage issues largely stemming from our purchase of Countrywide.”

Under the terms of the agreement, $8.5 billion will be paid to the covered trusts while Bank of America also intends to record an additional $5.5 billion provision to its representations and warranties liability for both Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) and non-GSE exposures in the second quarter of 2011.

Furthermore, Bank of America expects to register a los of $0.88 to $0.93 per share in the second quarter of 2011 due to the settlement and additional mortgage-related costs which included impairment charge of $2.6 billion.

Over the last six months, Bank of America and Countrywide have announced three agreements aimed at reducing exposure to legacy Countrywide mortgage issues. Wednesday’s agreement covers nearly all of the first-lien private-label RMBS repurchase exposure.

In addition, the settlement covered 525 legacy Countrywide first-lien RMBS trusts and five legacy Countrywide second-lien RMBS trusts with mortgage loans principally originated between 2004 and 2008.

BNY Mellon acted as trustee or indenture trustee for such trusts which had an original principal balance of around $424 billion and total current unpaid principal balance of approximately $221 billion.

In January, the financial institution announced agreements with two of its largest counterparties, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that resolved the existing pipeline of repurchase and make-whole claims in regards to alleged breaches of selling representations and warranties related to loans sold by Countrywide.

In April, the company and Countrywide signed an agreement with Assured Guaranty to resolve the monoline insurer’s outstanding and potential repurchase claims related to alleged representations and warranties breaches on 29 RMBS trusts.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — A federal grand jury in North Carolina on Friday indicted former U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate John Edwards for allegedly violating federal campaign finance laws to cover up his extra-marital affair and the resulting pregnancy.

John Edwards, 57, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal campaign finance laws and to make false statements to the Federal Commission (FEC). He has also been charged with four counts of accepting and receiving illegal campaign contributions from two donors in 2007 and 2008, and one count of concealing those illegal donations from the FEC.

Hours after the six-count indictment was released, Edwards made his initial appearance in federal court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he pled not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Auld.

According to the indictment, while a presidential candidate, Edwards conspired with other individuals to accept and receive campaign contributions in excess of limits imposed by the Federal Election Act in an effort to protect and advance his candidacy from disclosure of an ongoing extra-marital affair with film producer Rielle Hunter and the resulting pregnancy. The indictment alleges that between 2007 and 2008, Edwards accepted and received more than $900,000 as part of this effort.

“Today, a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against former Senator John Edwards for violating federal election laws during his campaign for President of the United States,” said Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department. “Mr. Edwards is alleged to have accepted more than $900,000 in an effort to conceal from the public facts that he believed would harm his candidacy. As this indictment shows, we will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws. Our campaign finance system is designed to preserve the integrity of democratic elections – for the presidency and all other elected offices – and we will vigorously pursue abuses of the kind alleged today.”

The Federal Election Act limits the amount an individual may contribute to any candidate for federal elected office in order to limit the influence any one individual may have on the outcome of a federal election. The Federal Election Act established that the most one individual could contribute for the 2008 presidential primary election was $2,300. According to the indictment, the Federal Election Act’s contribution limit applies to anything of value provided for the purpose of influencing a federal election, including contributions to a candidate and his/her campaign; expenditures made in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate or his/her campaign; and payments for personal expenses of a candidate unless those payments would have been made irrespective of his/her candidacy.

“Democracy demands that our election system be protected, and without vigorously enforced campaign finance laws, the people of this country lose their voice,” said U.S. Attorney George Holding. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice are committed to the prosecution of individuals who abuse the very system of which they seek to become a part.”

The Federal Election Act, according to the indictment, also requires each presidential campaign committee to file periodic campaign finance reports with the FEC, which are made available to the public. In these reports, the committees were required to identify each person who, during the relevant reporting period, contributed more than $200 to the committee, along with the date and the amount of the contribution. According to the indictment, these reports are intended to provide citizens with a transparent record of the amount and sources of all campaign contributions and to assist voters in making informed decisions at the polls.

Further, according to the indictment, the payments at issue were used to facilitate Edwards’ extra-marital affair, and to conceal it and the resulting pregnancy from the public. The indictment alleges that the funds were used to pay for the living and medical expenses of Hunter with whom Edwards was having the affair, and to pay for the travel and accommodations necessary to hide Hunter from the news media and the public so that Edwards’ candidacy would not be damaged. According to the indictment, Edwards knew that the public revelation of the affair and pregnancy would undermine his image and force his campaign to divert personnel and resources away from campaign activities to respond to criticism and media scrutiny.

The indictment alleges that Edwards and his co-conspirators concealed the alleged unlawful contributions from the FEC and the public by causing the John Edwards for President Committee to file with the FEC false and misleading campaign finance reports that failed to disclose the illegal contributions.

“Public servants are held to the same laws as everyone else in this country. The position sought does not exempt anyone, even those running for President of the United States,” said Chris Briese, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina.

If convicted, Edwards faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. He faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of accepting and receiving illegal campaign contributions, and a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charge of concealing the alleged illegal donations.

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CROATAN NATIONAL FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) — Five people were killed after a vehicle overturned and sank in a canal on Sunday evening in a national forest in the eastern part of North Carolina, officials said Monday.

Highway Patrol Trooper R.A. Woods told WTVD that the incident occurred on Sunday evening between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. local time, when a sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the Croatan National Forest, which is located north of Camp Lejeune near North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast, overturned into a canal.

The bodies of an adult male and female were found, as well as two infants and an adolescent boy. The two infants, a boy and a girl, were discovered still strapped in their child seats after the vehicle was pulled out of the mud. The woman was also found still wearing her seatbelt.

Officials said the vehicle was found upside down and almost completely submerged in the canal. Woods said that the man was possibly trying to get the woman and children out the vehicle as they were still wearing their seatbelts.

Speeding could have been a factor as officials noted tire marks on the gravel road, and drowning appeared to be the cause of death.

The names of the fatal victims have not been released, and the relation between them has still been unconfirmed. No further information was available.

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